By OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 7, 2019 — My Facebook friend Sharon Poitier posted this resplendent photo of a tree that blooms in The Bahamas with the following caption: “The Royal Poinciana….in majestic form…behold her beauty!”
I decided to repost it for the benefit of my American friends, especially those here in the Washington, D.C. area, so they can get a glimpse of our Royal Poinciana tree in full bloom and marvel at its natural beauty the same way they do when the Cherry Blossom trees “come to life” along the National Mall in downtown D.C. for several weeks annually around March and April.
I have become a sort of “Internet geek” ever since I discovered that information on even the most obscure topic can be easily obtained within minutes by doing an Internet search, so I decided to compare the Royal Poinciana tree to the Cherry Blossom tree to simply see whether there was a correlation between their respective “visual magic” in transforming areas where they exist into a beautiful oasis of flowers at certain times of the year.
For starters, I assumed that the Royal Poinciana was native to The Bahamas and was about to brag about what I thought was a fact until I checked the website www.gardenguides.com and discovered that the Royal poinciana “is native only to the island of Madagascar, and is endangered in the wild.”
It is described as “one of the world’s most magnificent flowering trees–whether called royal poinciana, flamboyant or the flame tree, to catch a glimpse of this tree in full bloom in late spring or early summer is an unforgettable sight.”
“Today, it is grown worldwide across tropical regions, a symbol of exotic beauty in large parks or lining spacious avenues often alongside palms and tropical fig trees,” according to the website.
The website adds, “The semi-green royal poinciana grows 30 to 50 feet tall and 30 to 40 feet wide with an umbrella-like canopy and low swooping branches. The tree loses its foliage in the winter depending upon the degree of soil dryness, and in spring, the feathery, fern-like leaves emerge. Its smooth, gray bark makes the trunk look like an elephant’s leg. Leaves have an overall oval shape, but are compound with two ranks of branching lined with tiny leaflets.
“In late spring to early summer, branch tips don large clusters of orange to scarlet-red flowers. (A naturally occurring variety of the tree produces golden yellow flowers.) The blossom of the poinciana has five claw-like petals; one upper petal bears speckles of white or red and is called the ‘standard.’ Enormous brown seed pods develop after flowering, and about one year later splits open to release the horizontally arranged seeds.”
Noting that Royal poincianas “flower best in climates with a pronounced dry winter season,” the website adds, “Thus, in tropical climates with year-round moisture and high humidity, flowering is sporadic in summer at best. Poincianas do not prosper in regions with Mediterranean climates.”
OK, that ends today’s lesson on the Royal poinciana. Hopefully, those Bahamians who believed that the Royal poinciana tree was indigenous to The Bahamas now know that they were wrong.
The same is true about conch and grouper, which some Bahamians wrongly assume are solely indigenous to The Bahamas. Indeed, both conch and grouper from various South American countries are readily available at the a market in Baltimore Harbour, where I shopped regularly on Sundays in the 1980s after attending Baltimore Orioles baseball games, prior to the Montreal Expos moving from Canada to Washington D.C. in 2004 and changing its name to the Washington Nationals.
Meanwhile, cherry blossom trees have a more historic existence in the D.C. area. According to an article on the Internet, “In January 1910, 2,000 Japanese cherry trees arrived in Washington from Japan but had fallen prey to disease during the journey. In response, a private Japanese citizen donated the funds to transport a new batch of trees, and 3,020 specimens were taken from the famous collection on the bank of the Arakawa River in Adachi Ward, a suburb of Tokyo. In March 1912, the trees arrived in Washington, and on March 27 the first two trees were planted along the Potomac River’s Tidal Basin in a formal ceremony. The rest of the trees were then planted along the basin, in East Potomac Park, and on the White House grounds.”
The article continued, “The blossoming trees proved immediately popular with visitors to Washington’s Mall area, and in 1934 city commissioners sponsored a three-day celebration of the late March blossoming of the trees, which grew into the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. After World War II, cuttings from Washington’s cherry trees were sent back to Japan to restore the Tokyo collection that was decimated by American bombing attacks during the war.”
For those Bahamians who have never seen Cherry Blossom trees in full bloom, it’s a wonderful experience that attracts thousands and thousands of visitors to the Washington, D.C. area around March and April, although an argument could be made that the desire to visit some of Washington’s many historic monuments and landmarks contributes considerably to the tremendous influx of visitors to D.C. not only around the Cherry Blossom season, but throughout the year.
Be that as it may, it may not be a bad idea for the decision-makers at the Ministry of Tourism to structure a tourism-promotion campaign around the peak season when our poinciana trees are in full bloom. They can even “piggyback” on the promotion of the Cherry Blossom Festival by having an annual “Poinciana Junkanoo Parade.”
When that thought initially crossed my mind, I did not consider mentioning it as a serious suggestion, but the more I “tossed it around,” the more it seemed to be a good idea. What do you think?
